[Dr_Sara]

Dear @Pharma
Thanks for your reply. I am really interested in calculating the theoretical Aw without making the product. 

Sadly, I don’t have 20K laying about- unless you mean Euros? 

Can you point me to a good source to read about calculating the Aw?
Thanks
@Dr_Sara

[Dr_Sara]

Hi @Microformulation,
Thanks for the link. I will have a look. 

Maybe I am misunderstanding. If you have a paper that measures the Aw empirically of a specific recipe, and that formulation has no glycerol, for example. It seems reasonable to assume the addition of glycerol will decrease the Aw value?

My reason for asking is to assess risk before the actual Aw is measured. If a formulation has a lower suspected Aw then you may be able to do a short challenge test. 

Very often tables are used and values assumed for specific types of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Below is from Published in AAPS PharmSciTech 2017
Microbial Stability of Pharmaceutical and Cosmetic Products

H. Dao, P. Lakhani, +6 authors S. Narasimha Murthy

It would be nice to have a more accurate estimate of Aw based on formulation ingredients (in the absence of empirical results) than using an average value.

[Dr_Sara]

Love the idea of Hair Fertilizer!

[Dr_Sara]

perhaps I should not have said calculate? 

[Dr_Sara]

I understand it must be empirically measured to get the exact Aw, however, it seems reasonable that you can there must be some source where you can make an educated guess?

[Dr_Sara]

@LincsChemist, thank you very much I have contacted both.

@alan123, thank you or the link.

Very much apreciated.
@Dr_Sara

[Dr_Sara]

I really thought I had missed something when @Pharma said there was a “like” button. It would be a great addition, @Perry!

[Dr_Sara]

Maybe we should add a preservative? 

[Dr_Sara]

What! There is a like button???? 

Note the ruby chocolate! 

[Dr_Sara]

Pullulan dextrauk.com

[Dr_Sara]

I have seen Belle Chemical pharmaceutical biotin on amazon.co.uk

[Dr_Sara]

Chocolate, culture or cosmetic?

[Dr_Sara]

I have had mixed results with rapid cooling.

From experience you can decrease the appearance of crystals by putting soap bars in a cold place but they crystals reform. This is the opposite of what I would expect??? ????

[Dr_Sara]

Glad I could help. The beeswax-borax combination is a very old way to make emulsions. I would recommend you make a beeswax cream using an emulsifier. Which emulsifier really depends on what oils are in your recipes. 

If you ship to the EU you will need to meet the EU legal requirements. For cream you will need to have a Preservative Efficacy Test (PET).  You might want to limit your aloe vera juice. Any biomaterial that the little micro-organisms find tasty, may increase their growth. 

You will also need an EU based Responsible Person, Product Information File (PIF), a Cosmetic Product Safety Report (CPSR) written by a safety assessor (I am a safety assessor), and finally, you need to list your product on the Cosmetic Product Notification Portal (CPNP). 

This all sounds like a lot but it is not that difficult once you have developed your products. I work for a company that helps beekeepers and small producers sell their products legally in the EU.
Kind regards,
Dr Sara

[Dr_Sara]

Hi @@LisaC66
Sounds like a nice/traditional formulation with beeswax and sodium borate. 

I am not sure where you are located but in the EU sodium borate is prohibited from use in cosmetics COMMISSION REGULATION (EU) 2019/1966. 

I thought I would mention just in case you are planning to sell and you are in the EU.   

[Dr_Sara]

Sorry. Direct message/mail.

Perhaps you can send me an email and we can discuss further? Admin@drsararobb.info

[Dr_Sara]

Your formulation is very straight forward. When are you going to start selling in the EU? 

Send me a DM if you would like me to give you more info about getting a CPSR.

[Dr_Sara]

Good Morning, Tyss

For TURPINAL® 4NL  you would list INCI Tetrasodium Etidronate. I have listed the relevant information below. Do you need help with your safety assessment/CPSR?
@Dr_Sara

From COSMETICS EUROPE: COSMETIC INGREDIENT LABELLING

IN THE EUROPEAN UNION; Updated Guidelines for the Cosmetics Industry based on the 7th Amendment to the Cosmetics Directive

“If a raw material is supplied as an intentional mixture, each individual ingredient must be declared separately, taking into account its concentration in the finished product.”

The following applies toTurpinal 4NL

“all ingredients must be listed, except: 

• Impurities in raw materials used; 

• Subsidiary technical materials used in the preparation but not present in the final product; 

• Materials used in strictly necessary quantities as solvents or as carriers for perfume and aromatic compositions.

http://www.dequest.com/sites/default/files/ITAL000002_Personal-care.pdf

[Dr_Sara]

Hi @Tyss in Tunisia

We went to Tunisia a number of years ago Tunis, Hammamet… I rode my first camel in the Tunisian Sahara. We still love harissa.

I can help you. My specialty is soap and I am an EU safety advisor. Do you need the EDTA in your formula? 

It might be helpful if I could see the SDS. Would you be willing to send that? I can then tell you more. 

Kind regards,
@Dr_Sara

[Dr_Sara]

Hi @Pharma I formulated a scrub that I am quite happy with for an apiary- my daughters both love it and one of them is very difficult to impress! She actually asked or more!

I realize that MSM is not an antioxidant that is able to accept free radicals or terminate propagation, but I thought I had read that it modulates antioxidant pathways.  Maybe resulting in decreased markers of oxidative stress. 

 

[Dr_Sara]

Thanks @Vnnil

@mhart123 I found an article

J Food Sci Technol. 2015 Jul; 52(7): 3925–3946.

Published online 2014 Oct 11. doi: 10.1007/s13197-014-1587-0

PMCID: PMC4486597

PMID: 26139862

Crystallization modifiers in lipid systems

[Dr_Sara]

thanks @Pattsi

Pattsi said:

have not used it.

and think will never use it. it’s stink.

does your dimethyl sulfone smell? mine has no odor

[Dr_Sara]

this is a piece of soap with figging. you are right, they are crystals. They always seem just out of focus! Maybe decrease shea butter and increase beeswax and a liquid oil?

[Dr_Sara]

This is likely the shea butter which has stearic acid 20–50% (I had to look up the % of stearic acid). Cocoa butter which has stearic acid approximately 37% leads to figging in soaps and lip balms.

[Dr_Sara]

Hi @chemicalmatt

I was interested in using it for viscosity control. Although I am also interested in its antioxidant properties- these are probably not relevant. 

I probably don’t want to use DMSO- garlic breath as a bonus!

I have seen it listed on a few anti-aging creams… but it does not seem to be frequently used.
Thanks @Dr_Sara